Late Night Lullaby
by EleganceInABox
Summary: Mabel has a nightmare and can't go back to sleep, so she spends so time with her favorite six-fingered grunkle.


Hey everyone! I had an idea late last night, so here is what I came up with. There might be some spelling mistakes, I'm currently writing my stories on my phone, so please bear with me!

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Stanford Pines was hard at work trying to reorganize his notes from before he disappeared so that he could begin recreating his journals. He was so mesmerized by his papers, that he didn't hear the soft treading of his great-niece's feet as she made her way down the stairs. He put the newly organized stack of papers down, and stretched in his chair, focusing on what the next step in his process would be, when her shaky voice filled his ears.

"Grunkle Ford?" She asked quietly, instantly getting his attention.

"Mabel?" Ford looked at her in disbelief. "It has to be at least three in the morning Mabel, how are you still up?"

She sniffed quietly, "I could ask you the same thing mister." She let out a weak laugh, and he smiled gently at her.

"You've got me there kid. Now really, why are you still up?"

"I had a nightmare, and I'm too scared to go back to bed right now. So I figured TV and food would solve my problems." She looked down sheepishly at her feet, and then back up at her grunkle. "Could I stay with you for a little bit? Just until I'm tired again?"

"Of course Mabel," Ford replied immediately. "I was just about to head off to bed myself but I can stay up with you if it makes you feel better."

"Yes please," she whispered. "Thank you."

Ford walked over to his great-niece and lifted her up, "Anything for you." He carried her into his room, turned on a lamp, and sat down on the couch with her in his lap. "Would you like to talk about it? I have always found that talking about it gets it out of your mind."

"Okay, in a couple minutes though please." She murmured

"Alright Dear," he whispered back. The two sat in silence for at least five minutes before she began to speak.

"It was about him."

Ford looked at his great-niece questioningly, "Who?" He hoped in the back of his mind that she would not utter that demon's name.

"Bill." Mabel looked down at her hands and Ford cursed silently, pulling his great-niece into a reassuring hug.

"It's alright," he began. "He can't get yo-"

"But it wasn't Bill," she interrupted, as if she didn't hear her grunkle speaking in the first place. "It was Bipper."

"Bipper?" Ford look at Mabel's face as it grew pale at the thought.

"That's what I called it the one time Bill took over Dipper's body."

"Hm, alright. That's pretty terrifying in and of itself, what else happened?"

"We were back in Bill's psycho palace, and Dipper and I were running from bill to get him away from you and Grunkle Stan, and then Dipper and I got split up. There was like a fork in the hallway and he went one way and I went another, and it wasn't until I was deep in the maze of the palace that I realized I had lost Dipper." Tears began to well in her eyes, so Ford stroked her hair gently in an attempt to soothe her. "So, of course, I began to panic and I tried making my way back from where I came from. That's when I saw Dipper, I was so happy! I thought for sure that Bill would have gotten him, but no, he was okay. I ran to him to hug him, and that's when I noticed his eyes." Mabel began to shake violently, "They were yellow and they had Bill's creepy pupils. He talked about how he tortured you and Stan and Dipper and how it was all my fault because I gave him that stupid rift in the first place." She began sobbing, and buried her face in her grunkle's chest. Ford was slightly taken aback by this, as he had never seen his niece cry so hard before.

"Shh, it's okay Mabel," he coped gently. "He can't hurt you any more. We're all safe, you have nothing to worry about." He continued to stroke her hair and whisper soothing things to her. After a half hour, it seemed his niece was out of tears and nearly asleep in his arms. "Do you want to go back to bed, Mabel?" He whispered gently.

She shook her head no ever so slightly, and snuggled up closer to him, which is when he got an idea. "How about I sing you a song, then we'll go to bed, okay?"

"Okay," Mabel mumbled sleepily. Ford smiled at her, then cleared his throat. He sang soft and low, so that only she could hear the words.

'Close your eyes, lay your head down,

 _Now it's time to sleep,_

 _May you find great adventure,_

 _As you lie and dream._

 _If you're scared of the darkness,_

 _I will calm your fear,_

 _There's a light in the hallway,_

 _So you know I'm here._

 _So count your blessings everyday,_

 _It makes the monsters go away,_

 _And everything will be okay._

 _You are not alone,_

 _You are right at home,_

 _Goodnight, goodnight.'_

Ford gently got up from his spot on the couch and began to make his way up the stairs to the room Mabel shared with her brother, still singing as he carried her.

 _'You won't need me forever,_

 _But I'll still be here,_

 _For we all have our nightmares,_

 _Even me my dear._

 _From now on, if you need me,_

 _You can sing this song,_

 _There's a light in the hallway,_

 _Burning all night long.'_

Ford laid her down gently on the bed and tucked her in, stroking her hair once more.

 _'So count your blessings everyday,_

 _It makes the monsters go away,_

 _And everything will be okay,_

 _You are not alone,_

 _You are right at home._

 _Goodnight.'_

Ford finished his song, smiled and kissed his niece on the forehead before heading out of the room. He looked back at his niece and nephew sleeping before closing the door and heading down to his own room to get some sleep.


End file.
